The Malta Stock Exchange Index added just over three points, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 3,400.252 in a mixed day of trading. Volume was exceptionally light as 24,166 shares changed hands across 22 deals. In the banking sector, Bank of Valletta plc, added 3c9, or 1.4 per cent, to close at €2.829 on very light volume of 2,491 shares across six deals.
HSBC Bank Malta plc shares were uncharacteristically silent, closing the session unchanged in light volume of 5,500 shares across six deals to end at €2.980.
Stock of the local airport operator, Malta International Airport plc, added 1c, or 0.6 per cent, to finish the session at €1.720, in a single trade of 2,000 shares.
Closing lower were the shares of the local telecommunications provider Go plc, which fell 3c, or 2.2 per cent, and ended at €1.350 in six deals for a total of 12,975 shares. MIDI plc shares also closed lower, dropping 2c, or 4.6 per cent, to end at €0.420 in a single deal of 1,000 shares. The other equity to trade in the session was Island Hotels Group Holdings plc, which closed unchanged at €0.895 in very light volume of 200 shares across two deals.
Before the start of trading, Global Capital plc announced that its annual general meeting will be held on 24 June 2011 and that all shareholders on the company record as of tomorrow shall be entitled to vote at the said meeting.
The week ahead - Economic indicators for week starting May 23
In the US this week, a few key data figures are due to be released. The one to probably be watched most keenly by market participants will the revised GDP data for the first quarter of 2011. Economists are expecting a slight revision upwards. Along with GDP data, figures on personal income and consumer spending, scheduled to be released on Friday, will also be on the radar screen as analysts look for direction on private consumption. Following the poor results of recent retail sales data, expectations are subdued. Also in the data pipeline this week are US durable goods orders for the month of April. After companies reported that orders for March were up a strong 4.1 per cent, analysts are expecting a downturn in April.
Following yesterday’s release of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing and services sectors for the month of May in the eurozone, economists are now awaiting figures for the 17-nation zone’s industrial new orders for March, which are due to be issued today, along with a number of sentiment indicators later in the week.
In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, the second reading of Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2011 are scheduled to be released tomorrow. Market participants are expecting no change in the country’s growth over the prior estimate, which came in a 0.5 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
Germany’s largest market research institute, GfK, is scheduled to release its UK consumer Confidence Survey for the month of May on Thursday in which expectations are that the index will remain flat over April’s figure.
This article has been prepared by Bank of Valletta plc (the Bank), which is licensed to conduct investment services business by the MFSA, for your general information only. This information is not a solicitation or offer by the Bank to acquire or sell securities. Nor does it constitute any form of advice by the Bank. Appropriate advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of your investments may fall or rise.